Catalysis and Sensing for Health (CASH)

Sponsor(s): Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation; JSPS, RSC, University of Bath and many others

The disciplines of catalysis and sensing, within the chemical sciences arena, do not tend to be tackled in parallel, it is the aim of this CASH Symposium is to bring together researchers with expertise in these fields to combine their knowledge.

During the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) I work at publicizing the contributions that chemistry has made to improve lives, particularly recent developments in chemical research about the importance of Chemistry for our Environment and for Health.

The disciplines of catalysis and sensing, within the chemical sciences arena, do not tend to be tackled in parallel, it is the aim of this CASH Symposium is to bring together researchers with expertise in these fields to combine their knowledge and inform the research of each other by discussing some of the more fundamental challenges in basic science that underpin these applied topics. The marriage of these two fields has the possibility to fertilize new and exciting adventures drawing on the expertise of the assembled researchers from the UK, USA and Japan.

Catalyst “a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change” research in this area provides knowledge upon which to design new, effective syntheses, by lowering the energy consumption of existing chemical transformations, a vitally important research effort in terms of sustainable chemical manufacturing of new pharmaceuticals for our health and wellbeing.

Sensor “a device which detects or measures a physical property” Chemical sensors (chemosensors) are receptors for analytes that produce a signal upon interaction with said analytes. Our senses of taste and smell for example and are among the myriad of biological processes involving chemosensing. The development of sensors for the agents of bioterrorism, monitoring purity of drinking water and analysis of disease markers is of great importance to our health and wellbeing.

CASH Catalysis and Sensing for Health. Catalysis and sensing are two vital areas in sustainable chemical development in the area of health and wellbeing, their underlying mechanisms are similar offering opportunities for parallel development. Catalysis relies on chemicals interacting with a catalyst, to assist in the formation of new molecular products. Sensing relies on chemical analytes interacting with a sensor to elicit an output. Being able to monitor binding in catalysis will reveal important mechanistic features allowing further and focused development.